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[lojban-beginners] Re: .e'o ko pe'u
By reading threads in "Lojban" (thanks for the links) I gathered the following.
1. Most consider {ko broda} a neutral imperative, or at least support the idea.
2. Lojbab confirmed that bare {ko broda} being a command is the intended standard interpretation.
3. Almost everyone consider {.e'o do broda} not being a proposition, but a close equivalent of {.e'o ko broda}.
My Thoughts
A rationale for (1) is that there are many different uses for imperatives besides commands, and it's easier to specifically mark commands as such (and only when needed) than to mark all other uses. This is also in line with some other aspects of Lojban, where the shortest form leaves details unspecified.
(2) probably came from English. In Russian, for example, I feel that bare imperatives are appropriate in many cases. When I buy a bread that the seller has to hand me, I say: "продайте хлеб" {ko vecnu lo nanba}. This is an offer of purchase, not a command. Commands in Russian often do not use imperatives: "Стоять!" {nu sanli}, which may be interpreted as "Приказываю стоять!" {mi minde fi lo nu sanli} with "приказываю" {mi minde} omitted.
If we decide in favor of (1), it will be a change to the language standard, and we will need a good way to mark commands.
As for (3), I'd like to have a comprehensive list of words that can change the bridi meaning from a default proposition to something else. That would be (excluding experimental words):
questions: xu, ma, mo, xo, ji, ge'i, gi'i, gu'i, je'i, pei, fi'a, cu'e, pau?;
imperatives: ko;
attitudinals, discursives, vocatives: .e'o, pe'u?, what else here?
any others kinds?
Also, is {sei mi cpedu do klama ta} a proposition or not?
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